Northern Parula Similar Species Comparison
Main SpeciesNorthern Parula
Adult male
Small wood-warbler with a short tail and a thin bill. Adults have a blue-gray back with a yellow-olive patch in the center. Adult males have a bright yellow throat and breast with a black and chestnut band. Note white eye crescents.
© Ryan Schain / Macaulay LibraryMassachusetts, May 12, 2013Immature male
Immature males are paler overall and lack the chestnut breast band. Immatures also have have yellow-green edged primaries and secondaries .
© Ryan Schain / Macaulay LibraryMassachusetts, November 21, 2011Adult male
Northern Parulas hop through branches often in the canopy of eastern forests.
© Benjamin Clock / Macaulay LibraryMaine, June 21, 2013Not all videos have sound
Immature female
Immature females have more of a green wash on their back and head and have green edged primaries and secondaries. Immatures lack the chestnut breast band seen on adult males.
© Alix d'Entremont / Macaulay LibraryNova Scotia, September 12, 2014Adult
Small, short-tailed warbler. Note yellow throat, chestnut breast band, and white belly and undertail coverts. Also note yellow lower bill, a distinct feature in parulas.
© Larry Therrien / Macaulay LibraryMassachusetts, May 10, 2016Adult male
Northern Parulas sing a buzzy insectlike trill that pinches off at the end.
© Benjamin Clock / Macaulay LibraryWest Virginia, May 27, 2013Not all videos have sound
Immature female
Immature females have more of a green wash on their back and head and have green-edged primaries and secondaries. They also lack the chestnut breast band.
© Ian Davies / Macaulay LibraryNew York, September 06, 2015Adult male
Adult males have a distinctive breast pattern—yellow with a black and chestnut band.
© Davey Walters / Macaulay LibraryPrince Edward Island, June 10, 2016Adult female
Northern Parulas nest in hanging clumps of epiphytes like Spanish moss, beard moss, or lace lichen.
© Benjamin Clock / Macaulay LibraryMaine, June 19, 2013Not all videos have sound
Adult female
Breeds in mixed woodlands and mature forests along streams and swamps. Nests in beard or Spanish mosses.
© Kevin McGowan / Macaulay LibraryMaine, June 19, 2017Adult male
Northern Parulas occasionally take nectar from flowers on the wintering grounds.
© Timothy Barksdale / Macaulay LibrarySantiago de Cuba, February 26, 2004Not all videos have sound
Similar SpeciesNashville Warbler
Adult male
Nashville Warblers have a yellow belly while Northern Parulas have a white belly. They also have a yellow-olive back and wings without wingbars unlike Northern Parulas, which have wingbars.
© James Cummins / Macaulay LibraryWashington, May 02, 2017Similar SpeciesNashville Warbler
Female/immature
Female/immature Nashville Warblers have yellow-olive wings without wingbars and a yellow belly unlike Northern Parulas.
© Ryan Schain / Macaulay LibraryMassachusetts, October 26, 2010Similar SpeciesPine Warbler
Adult male
Pine Warblers are yellower overall and have a stouter bill than Northern Parulas.
© Ryan Schain / Macaulay LibraryMassachusetts, April 30, 2017Similar SpeciesCanada Warbler
Adult male
Canada Warblers have a dark back necklace that Northern Parulas lack.
© David Turgeon / Macaulay LibraryQuebec, June 10, 2016Rotate Your Device to Better Compare
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Species in This Family
New World Warblers(Order: Passeriformes, Family: Parulidae)
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